Coach Mike Babcock points the way for Todd Bertuzzi from behind the Red Wings' bench during the third period of Game 6 on Friday night at Joe Louis Arena. Captain Henrik Zetterberg, at left, scored two goals in the game, including the winner in overtime. / Kirthmon F. Dozier/Detroit Free Press

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The Red Wings are about to play a must-win, do-or-die game. Beep. This is a recording.

The Red Wings are about to play a must-win, do-or-die game. Beep. This is a recording.

Yes, this is getting awfully familiar.

It’s like the Wings are stuck in a wild, wonderful, fascinating, exhausting loop that has been repeating over and over for the last few weeks.

It started at the end of the regular season. For an entire week, almost every game the Wings played turned into a white-knuckle, must-win game; and, somehow, despite their young lineup, despite their limitations, despite their flaws, the Wings survived and made the playoffs.

Then, they faced a must-win, do-or-die game in Game 6 Friday night against the Anaheim Ducks. And despite their young lineup, and a painful own goal, and some bonehead mistakes, and blowing a two-goal lead, they survived. And now?

Now, the Wings will play a Game 7 at Anaheim, and that young lineup continues to improve. It continues to learn to win.

My quick guess: This game is gonna go overtime.

Of course it will go overtime. Beep! This is a recording.

“Game 7s are a blast,” said Wings goalie Jimmy Howard, who has played in a pair of Game 7s. He won one and he lost one. “It’s both teams leaving it out on the ice and they are fun to be part of.”

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Quick note to the idiotic, boneheaded imbecile who thought it would be a good idea to play Game 7, in this tight, dramatic series at 10 p.m. Eastern time: Get your head out of your 5-hole, man.

This is what is wrong with the NHL. This is what is wrong with its “TV partners.”

If you want to grow the NHL, if you want to expose this thrilling game to young people, if you want to showcase everything good about this sport, you have to play huge, dramatic games like this when people are, I don’t know, awake.

OK. Back to the game.

The biggest game in at least two days.

“We have played them six times,” Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. “Both teams know each other in and out. It’s tight. There are a lot of emotions. You don’t do it often and that’s why it’s special.”

This series has been a cross-country battle of time zones and airports and long flights.

“It’s two teams that match up really well,” Kronwall said. “It’s really tight out there. It’s going to be a battle. It’s probably going to be a one-goal game again.”

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Now, a word about Zetterberg.

He has basically kept this team alive through his will. He was fantastic in the final week of the season, and he was great on Friday night. He has five points in his last two games.

Zetterberg had a tremendous amount of pressure on him this season to get this team into the playoffs and continue the playoff streak. To get this team to win.

And he has been brilliant.

The Wings have had great leadership for the past two decades from Steve Yzerman to Nicklas Lidstrom. But what Zetterberg has done is different. In many ways, it has been harder.

Yzerman was the leader of superstars. Zetterberg is the leader of a team with flaws.

“Those guys had way more help,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said of Yzerman and Lidstrom. “Don’t ever kid yourself. Way different kind of crew.”

There is no room for error. No room for own goals or mistakes.

A big key tonight will be controlling Ryan Getzlaf, who has three goals and two assists in this series.

“He’s one of the best centermen in the league,” Niklas Kronwall said. “He has size, speed. He has sick hands. He has great vision as well. Not a lot of guys in the league have all of that.”

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Now, a word about the Wings young players.

I’m guessing the last two or three weeks will have a positive, long-term effect on this roster. Sure, they have made mistakes. But they are growing. Kronwall can see the change.

How will the young players respond to such a huge game tonight?

My guess: No different than all the other huge games they have played in the last two weeks.

“You have to keep control of your emotions,” Kronwall said. “Don’t think too much. Just play like you have all season long. We have some great talent. Everyone has been more mature. Sure we have made mistakes, but on average, the mistakes we make now are not the same mistakes that we did earlier this season.”

So get ready for Game 7.

Get out the coffee. Get ready for a wild battle. And don’t turn off that TV until it’s over. And get ready to call in sick on Monday morning.